Opinions

Trump's 'deal of the century' is destined to fall through

Thursday 28/February/2019 - 10:48 AM

Sever Plocker

Ynetnews - By Sever Plocker

Do you remember US President Donald Trump's big plan to cancel the North American trade deal with Canada and the European Union? Well، the new version was the original agreement with just a few minor amendments، which as customary in economic diplomacy would eventually have been carried out anyway.

And do you remember Trump's announcement that he was withdrawing roughly 2،000 US troops from Syria? This too is not happening for now. And the Mexican border wall? Not even a tenth of it will ever be built. For Trump kept has his word on barely 5 percent of what he has promised.

The Middle East peace "deal of the century" drafted by Trump is expected to share the same fate. The plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was supposed to be presented in 2018، but was repeatedly postponed، with excuses ranging from "we are still working on it،" to "now is not the right time.

But the truth is more embarrassing than that. Trump's confidants، who were responsible for wrapping up the deal، lack the creativity، the worldview and the knowledge of historical facts required to carry out this mission. Therefore، they are leaping from one Middle Eastern capital to the other، in hopes of hearing something new and refreshing.

The Clinton Parameters، which the Israeli government approved with several reservations but was rejected by the Palestinian Authority in 2000، was the only actual plan to date that was crafted to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Negotiations were held، vague agreements were drawn up and even a unilateral Israeli disengagement from Gaza occurred in 2005، but no new solution to end the 70-year conflict has been put on the table. All paths always lead to Bill Clinton's plan، but these days those guidelines seem much harder to implement.

The United States is up to its neck in a political civil war، Britain is digging its own Brexit grave and the nationalist populist factions that are gaining strength across Europe could not care less about the Middle East. And to top it all، Russia— which has zero interest in witnessing a US-brokered peace agreement— is popping up at our borders.

It is also worth mentioning that the investigations into Trump and his associates' links to Russian officials might lead to several indictments against his politically inexperienced son-in-law Jared Kushner، who brags about "his" plan being top secret. So secret that I doubt he himself understand its contents.

Two different political schools of thought have been clashing in Israel since 1967، with the first claiming the Jewish state is capable of becoming stronger despite its control over the Palestinians، and the second arguing that dominating another nation will eventually ruin the miracle called Israel and lead to an all-out national crisis.

Most of Israel's prime ministers (Levi Eshkol، Yitzhak Rabin، Menachem Begin، Shimon Peres، Ehud Barak، Ariel Sharon، and Ehud Olmert) belonged to the second school، and therefore sought to negotiate with the Palestinians، while only a tiny handful (Golda Meir and Yitzhak Shamir) believed Israel could conceivably rule over the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also believes this with every fiber of his being، and it appears that Trump and Kushner share his view، with the proof being their intention to dust off the forgotten term "economic peace."

It would be better to regard the "deal of the century" with disillusioned cynicism — as just another baseless statement made by an American president who cannot control his own tongue.